Green Maids' business blossoms as brand becomes known

By Heikki Perry

The Green Alliance

fosters.com

By Heikki Perry

The Green Alliance

Posted Dec. 3, 2012 at 12:01 AM

By Heikki Perry

The Green Alliance

Posted Dec. 3, 2012 at 12:01 AM

Business is booming for a green cleaning company serving the Seacoast, not only because the products it uses are safe and effective, but also because it allies itself with a group of other businesses that consider sustainability as important as profits.

York-based Green Maids cleaning company has grown by 50 percent since the start of 2012, and owner John O’Brien attributes much of that growth to being a business partner of Green Alliance, a union of local sustainable businesses promoting environmentally sound business practices and a green co-op offering discounted green products and services to its individual and family members.

“In one month, of the five new clients we gained, three of them were Green Alliance members. That’s 60 percent,” says O’Brien.

Green Maids gives GA individual members and their families a 10-percent discount on the services Green Maids provides. “But if a customer is not a GA member we still treat him or her like a new client. We give him or her and the family a 1-year membership to the Green Alliance to let them know about it, and they still get the 10 percent discount.”

The cleaning business, both commercial and residential, has traditionally been a quietly dirty business in the sense of toxicity. Numerous cleaning agents contain chemicals that are harmful to health, particularly to children. Studies have linked exposure to these chemical agents to a variety of maladies. Before starting his business in 2009, O’Brien conducted research concluding that 90 percent of toxic exposures are suspected to come from the chemicals people use to clean their homes. And he was determined to do something about it.

Unlike other cleaning companies that have recently jumped on the “green bandwagon” by offering some natural cleaning products, Green Maids uses only products that are guaranteed to be all-natural, biodegradable, earth friendly, non-toxic and safe for the home or office.

“Not only is this better for the client but it is safer for our staff members, who work with these products all day, five or six days a week,” O’Brien says.

O’Brien hand picks products himself. They cannot contain overwhelming odors, toxins, nitrates or phosphates and are never tested on animals. All products are either plant-based, made from corn or coconuts, or contain essential lemon oils, which produce the added benefit of these products being hypoallergenic as well as earth friendly. And O’Brien guarantees a clean no different than the toxic sparkle you expect from any professional cleaning service – only it’s the sparkle without the toxicity.

Such practices attracted a lot of attention when O’Brien started the business. “We got real business real quick,” he says, “but I was still learning the ropes, so I had to dial it back a little bit.”

He then started going out cleaning with his cleaning crew and saw “steady growth” in the business. In each of year 2010 and 2011, his business increased by 30 percent, “but 2012 was like a light switch. This summer, we were up 50 percent.”

As Green Maids cleans more area houses and businesses, more people see the company’s logo, which was professionally designed when the company started back in 2009. GA-business partner Riverworks Printing was hired to letter the Green Maids’ Toyota Prius vehicles, hopefully spurring still more growth. The company has just added another Prius; it is looking to hire more employees; and O’Brien is now exploring a move to an office in Portsmouth.

To learn more about Green Maids, call 207 361-4445, email info@greenmaidscleaning.com or visit www.greenmaidscleaning.com/ . For more information about Riverworks Printing, visit www.riverworksprinting.com . For more information on Green Alliance and their Green Families Club, visit www.greenalliance.biz .